Running Backs the Steelers could add in the 2020 draft
By Edward Hunt
AJ Dillon, RB, Boston College
This is a running back that could be available at their 3rd round compensatory pick. He is has been a good back for multiple years and has even been mocked in the first round in previous years.
His hard running style is exactly what the Steelers look for in their backs. The Steelers want some other options to James Conner as Tommy Jaggi pointed out in Steelers could be targeting a running back in the third round.
Dillon is a back who is probably a second-round value but will be pushed back by a good running back class. With guys like Jonathan Taylor, D’Andre Swift, and JK Dobbins, it makes taking a guy like AJ Dillon in the third-round more reasonable.
What I like about Dillon’s tape is that he has good vision and he hits the hole hard. That will fit with a team like the Steelers who know how to run block. The physical running style is also familiar to the Steelers who like that type of back.
The modern Steelers are filled with backs with a physical running style from Jerome Bettis to Jonathan Dwyer to James Conner. A guy like Dillon would continue that tradition in terms of running style.
Dillon is also an adequate pass catcher. He lined up as an outside receiver in Boston College’s offense and was an average route runner for a running back. This could be an area that the Steelers build on with Dillon.
The Steelers will also probably know some things about Dillon’s personality as the Steelers are in the Northeastern United States and so is Dillon. Dillon plays in the same conference as the Steeler’s building mates in the Pittsburgh Panthers.